KellieBom Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 He was sent to Winterfell as a boy of 8 or 9, technically as a hostage. He grew up with the Stark children with all the comforts of a home, education and sword training. His father was a giant dick about the whole thing with grown up Theon finally went back to the Iron Islands. "My son is dressed as a whore. Did you pay gold or iron for those fancy clothes?" So he goes back to Winterfell and fucks everything up like a giant douchebag, kills Roderik, burns the castle down to the ground, like wtf Theon. Seriously....what are you even thinking? But this kid was given away by his family to be raised by strangers, and Balon resented him for it, even though is was HIS OWN DECISION. Theon made a lot of bad choices, but in his very meager defense he was a lost child... Now he's not even Theon anymore. He's only got 7 fingers left and a few teeth. He lives in more fear then a beaten dog. He's a shell of who he was. Do you think he would have killed Bran and Rickon if he were able to catch them? He didn't think twice about killing Roderik, depite pleas from Luwin and Bran. I'm skeptical, Theon pretty much deserves what he gets at this point...but i wonder if there is some sympathy out there for him. Was he just a bad seed, rotting from the inside out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Bastard Snow Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 He didnt kill roderik ramsey did.Ramsey also put winterfell to the sword.He did kill mikken the blacksmith who made needle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ko Rakharo Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 I sincerely pity Theon. And I don't think he would have killed Bran or Rickon; if you remember from Clash, he frequently thought of Robb as his brother. He just had to seek the little Starks when they disappeared for the sake of having hostages -- otherwise the Stark bannermen could cook Theon inside his tower, or worse, keep them under siege until they starved to death. Theon was aware of that, although he seemed to give more importance to "looking brave". Either way he needed Bran and Rickon. Ramsay betrayed him and it wasn't his fault. He took Winterfell to prove Balon he was still his child and worthy of his legacy. We all know Balon wanted Asha to take his place. However, Theon was still cruel. Got a good and deserved heads up from Ramsay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sapphireghost18 Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Honestly, Theon is the parallel of Jon. They both grew up in Winterfell and were treated as Starks but were constantly reminded that they were outsiders. Catlyn treated both of them poorly (although she treated Jon Snow way worse) and in the end they really wanted to feel like they were apart of the Stark family. They both were jealous of Robb, even though he was a brother to them. But the major difference is that Jon Snow tried his damndest to find his own path outside of Winterfell and Theon tried to force his way in. Instead of biding his time and trying to earn his father's trust, he tried to exact revenge on the people who always saw him as an outsider. Jon, on the other hand tried to form a new family at the wall. Theon deserved his punishment to an extent but, he has some pretty valid reasons for his actions. After 10 years of being a hostage he came home to find that he seemed to have too much "Winterfell" in him so to prove to his father and the Ironborn that he didn't he planned to hold it in his father's name for revenge. It failed, but it is totally okay to see his side of things. Jon had many opportunities to do the same thing as Theon (take Winterfell as his own) but he refused because "It wasn't his place". He also had a lot more support at the wall than Theon had at the Iron Islands so it was easier for him to let it go. Theon thought Winterfell was the answer and he was wrong. Jon thinks the wall is his answer but he might be wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KellieBom Posted March 17, 2014 Author Share Posted March 17, 2014 Honestly, Theon is the parallel of Jon. I've never really looked at them like this before. Great post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stateofdissipation Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 Theon did not catch it. His father didn't bother to go pick Theon up from the dock. That was because he was preparing to attack westeros, an action that forfeited Theon's life. Theon came strolling in and saw the Ironborn preparing for war and apparently just assumed that they were waiting for his return to launch the attack. It does not look like that was the case as he was not included in their attack plan but rather added after he arrived to raid poor and largely meaningless targets. By the by, if he was captured during his raid it would have been by people that knew his life was forfeit. Still oblivious to what his father had intended, Theon went off his reservation to take Winterfell to impress his father. Then after a wildly successful raid, Theon decided to hold a castle he couldn't possibly defend instead of taking what he had gained, 2 valuable prisoners, back to Pyke or up to his sister. Theon made a lot of bad choices, but in his very meager defense he was a lost child (he was 19). Jon was a lost child. Robb was a lost child. There were plenty of lost children. Theon was not one of them. Now Ramsay caught him and left Theon 7 fingers and a few teeth. He lived in more fear then a beaten dog. Ramsay broke Theon's shell and showed who he was. Theon pretty much deserved what he got. at this point. Theon manages to just miss sympathy at least in the dictionary. One up "shit" and one down "syphilis" seem to suit him more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stateofdissipation Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 Honestly, Theon is the parallel of Jon. They both grew up in Winterfell and were treated as Starks but were constantly reminded that they were outsiders. Catlyn treated both of them poorly (although she treated Jon Snow way worse) and in the end they really wanted to feel like they were apart of the Stark family. They both were jealous of Robb, even though he was a brother to them. But the major difference is that Jon Snow tried his damndest to find his own path outside of Winterfell and Theon tried to force his way in. Instead of biding his time and trying to earn his father's trust, he tried to exact revenge on the people who always saw him as an outsider. Jon, on the other hand tried to form a new family at the wall. Theon deserved his punishment to an extent but, he has some pretty valid reasons for his actions. After 10 years of being a hostage he came home to find that he seemed to have too much "Winterfell" in him so to prove to his father and the Ironborn that he didn't he planned to hold it in his father's name for revenge. It failed, but it is totally okay to see his side of things. Jon had many opportunities to do the same thing as Theon (take Winterfell as his own) but he refused because "It wasn't his place". He also had a lot more support at the wall than Theon had at the Iron Islands so it was easier for him to let it go. Theon thought Winterfell was the answer and he was wrong. Jon thinks the wall is his answer but he might be wrong. Well Jon's "father" let him go off to swear his life to the wall. Theon's father forfeited his life by attacking westeros. We have that parallel too. The difference is that the 14 year old grew up and made his own way to look for honor. The 19 year old failed to grow up and looked for glory. Theon's father had told him to raid the coast. His sister warned him that he should earn his place in the crew.. Ironborn rule by strength and ability, not by birth. He disregarded both and set his own mind numbingly stupid course: Take an undermanned Winterfell and then try to hold winterfell without enough men. Taking Stark captives back to Pyke would have been his revenge. He chose his stupid. Pyke was not Theon's place (they abandoned him to his fate with the Starks) he never saw that. Then his men chose to abandon him as well. The NW did abandon Jon to his fate with the wildings and then they turned on him. The difference is Honor vs Glory... Both learned that their aims have consequences and are not as easy as they first seemed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sapphireghost18 Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Well Jon's "father" let him go off to swear his life to the wall. Theon's father forfeited his life by attacking westeros. We have that parallel too. The difference is that the 14 year old grew up and made his own way to look for honor. The 19 year old failed to grow up and looked for glory. Theon's father had told him to raid the coast. His sister warned him that he should earn his place in the crew.. Ironborn rule by strength and ability, not by birth. He disregarded both and set his own mind numbingly stupid course: Take an undermanned Winterfell and then try to hold winterfell without enough men. Taking Stark captives back to Pyke would have been his revenge. He chose his stupid. Pyke was not Theon's place (they abandoned him to his fate with the Starks) he never saw that. Then his men chose to abandon him as well. The NW did abandon Jon to his fate with the wildings and then they turned on him. The difference is Honor vs Glory... Both learned that their aims have consequences and are not as easy as they first seemed. Yes! Exactly! It seems that we are in agreement except for the point you made about his "father" letting him swear off his life to the wall. It's not like he exactly abandoned him. Jon chose to join the NW ( although it wasn't exactly what he expected). Imagine the life he would live at Winterfell if he stayed with Catelyn without Ned as a buffer. And Jon did have a large amount of support on the wall, he just made the mistake of sending a lot of it away (Sam, Aemon, Aurochs, etc). Theon had Asha... barely. Overall, Honor vs Glory pretty much covers it. :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themengsk176 Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 I find Theon to be the most sympathetic and thought provoking character in the entire series. His later chapters are probably my favorite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seaworth'sShipmate Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Sure I have some. He just wanted to be successful, to receive some validation from the father and family he never really knew. He was rather a poor and selfish leader though. He never even attempted to put the men in his command before himself. Im thinking of that time in the show ( maybe the book too) where he is rallying his 20 or so men to fight hundreds of enemy soldiers. All for a futile attempt to defend Winterfell, something wouldnt have been able to hold with 1000 men! He should have tried to find a way for him and his men to escape. Maybe if he showed he cared about them at all, his men might have respected him more and not betrayed him. Anyway, as bad as he is, I don't think anyone deserves what Ramsay has been doing to him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocksniffer Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 Theon is a foolish punk who could have been a man and brother to robb if he had sent the note but he burned it and with it any hopes of being sypathetic...in this old asshole's opinion.... <snip>...Theon manages to just miss sympathy at least in the dictionary. One up "shit" and one down "syphilis" seem to suit him more. while i agree with this sentiment...in my dictionary one up is sympathomimetic...and one down is sympatric...just saying... :smoking: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Bastard Snow Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 No sympathyn for Prince Theon BooBoo Feel bad for the people he is responsible for killing and all of the Winterfell women Ramsey raped and flayed because of him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Empress Maude Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 I feel very sorry for him. Not only no one deserves torture (and let alone the kind of torture Theon went through) but his life kind of sucked from teh moment his father's rebellion failed. I hope he makes it to the end of the series alive, he is one of my favourite characters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ServantOnIce Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 I go back and forward about Theon. Sometimes I feel sorry for him, other times I think he is getting what he deserved. Theon cost Robb and The Starks the North and their lives. He is responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of people. He's getting his just desserts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaTechPC Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 I really don't like Theon in the book or the show. He's portrayed really as an entitled and heartless little jerk in the book and I don't feel much sympathy for him until much later on when he finally realizes that he threw away the only real family he ever had and there is no going back. At that point his story just becomes painful and hard to watch/read... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaTechPC Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 Sure I have some. He just wanted to be successful, to receive some validation from the father and family he never really knew. He was rather a poor and selfish leader though. He never even attempted to put the men in his command before himself. Im thinking of that time in the show ( maybe the book too) where he is rallying his 20 or so men to fight hundreds of enemy soldiers. All for a futile attempt to defend Winterfell, something wouldnt have been able to hold with 1000 men! He should have tried to find a way for him and his men to escape. Maybe if he showed he cared about them at all, his men might have respected him more and not betrayed him. Anyway, as bad as he is, I don't think anyone deserves what Ramsay has been doing to him. Asha/Yara gave him the opportunity to escape and basically told him he was going to die if he stayed but his foolish pride kept him there. His own fault... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlowLoras Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 I couldn't bloody stand Theon in either the show or the books to begin with - his Freudian excuses about his father never loving him (when his surrogate family - Cat excepted - clearly cared about him) - it didn't wash with me. However, I must admit, once I learned what had happened to him I felt terrible - I'd spent so long actively wishing for him to be punished, but the sheer depth of punishment seemed so needlessly cruel. It's true that when you stand him next to Jon, Theon comes off looking pretty crappy - especially when you consider Theon has 5 or so years on Jon. But equally, Jon inherited his father's sense and caution. In his 10 years at Pyke, I can't imagine Theon learned many good lessons from his own father. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vaelya of Asshai Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 When he was ruling Winterfell, I hated him, and wanted him to be tortured, but after the torturing when he became Reek, I felt so sorry for him and my opinions completely changed, he isn't even a person anymore. Bless him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweetgirl205 Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 I feel bad for how Ramsay is treating Theon. If he had just beheaded him, no sympathy. However, nobody deserves to be treated like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Kinkslayer Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 For Theon Turncloak, hell no!! Reek on the other hand... it rhymes with so many things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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